Minnow hook



March 5-, 1935.. F. SOUKUP 1,992,969

MINNOW HOOK Filed June 2, 1933 INVENTOR HIS ATTOR N EYS Patented Mar. 5, 1935 V L UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MINNOW nooK Frank Soukup, Spillville, Iowa Application June 2, 1933, Serial N0.'674,073

4 Claims. (e1. 4340) This invention relates to minnow hooks, and my improved minnow hook includes a link .10, a has for its principal object the provision of an imthe opposite ends of which are bent to provide eyeproved construction of this character which will lets 11 and 12, the eyelet 11 being. adapted for be highly efi'icient in use and economical in manuconnection as at 13 to the line 14'. On the shank facture. l is frictionally mounted a sinker 15 of any ap- At the present time there are manystate statproved type but preferably of a weight which will 4 utes which prohibit 1 the taking from water of submerge the hook in the water without. disminnows forbait by means of nets orlike devices, turbance. and as a. consequence in such instances the usual The hook proper is indicated at 16 and includes practice is the employment of a minnow hook for a shank 17 having an eyelet 18 at one end thereof 10 this purpose. Where a minnow hook is employed for connection with theeyelet 12 as shown in Fig- 1 for this purpose, it is essentially necessary that ures l to 4 inclusive. Formed as an integral part such hook be of a construction and design which of the shank l'lis a hook portion having. an enwill not be injurious to the minnows when taken largement atits free end and which terminates in I from the water by means of hooks. It is, therea point 19. The hook portion extends at a slight 15 fore, one of the many objects of this invention to inclination with respect to the longitudinal axis of provide a minnow hook which will accomplish the shank 10 and the enlarged portion is provided this purpose. I with a curved inner side and slotted as at 20, Minnows employed for bait are known to be of thereby providing what may be termed a ventia delicate character and the employment of a lated barbless hook, or in other wordsahook with- 20 hook which requires excessive pulling and twistout the usual barb, so as to prevent serious injury ing obviously will rupture the body portion of the to the minnow as well as expeditious extraction minnow in the region where hooked and conseof the hook therefrom, and yet prevent casual quently the extraction of the hook tears or rupremoval of the hook. tures the body portion of the minnow in most The interconnecting section between the shank instances to the extent that the minnow survives 17 and the slotted enlarged portion is formed with but a very short period after being removed from a substantially straight inclined portion 21 havthe hook. ing slightly rounded ends 22 substantially merging It is one of the objects of this invention to prointo the enlarged portion and the shank 16, as vide a minnow hook having a combined guard clearly shown in the drawing.

and rocker arm which will function to prevent Preferably adjacent the eyelet 18 upon the the minnow from excessively swallowing the hook shank 17 is a coiled section 23 of a combined guard and to locate the hook so that the same will come and rocker arm 24, the arm 24 being provided by into contact with that portion of the minnows bending a section of the wire forming the coil to body which is of a tissue structure substantially a plane which will be substantially at an inclina- 35 bloodless, whereby when the hook is removed tion with respect to the longitudinal axis of the from that portion of the body the minnows body shank 1'7 and forming at the outer end thereof a is neither ruptured nor pierced as to bring about round loop 25 with the opposite end of the wire expiration by bleeding. member concaved as at 26 and connected to the In the drawing: coil as at 27 by means of solder or other suitable Fig. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of my inconnecting material. vention; In Fig. 5 the minnow hook illustrated therein Fig. 2 is a side view of the same showing subis constructed substantially the same as that stantially its actual size and in application with shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, with the exception ill reference to a minnow; that the combined guard and rocker arm is pro- 45 Fig. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged view of the vided by two parallel strands 28 bent to provide hook proper embodying my invention; a substantially round extremity as at 2 9. Fig. 41s an edge view of the same; In Fig. 6 the minnow hook is likewise con- Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of my invention showstructed substantially the same as that shown in ing a slightly modified form of construction over Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, with the exception that in 0 that illustrated in Fig. 1; and this instance instead of providing the rounded Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of my invention showextremity of the wire member, a small pellet 30 ing a further modified form of construction over is secured to the parallel strands 31 in any suitthat shown in Figs. 1 and 5. able manner.

55 Referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, In Fig. 2 I have illustrated substantially the actual size of my minnow hook and have shown the same in application with reference to a minnow 32. As shown, the hook portion is disposed at a point within the mouth of the minnow so as to dispose the rocker point indicated at 33 of the combined guard and rocker arm directly beneath the upper lip 34 of the minnow. In this position when the line 14 is made taut, the longitudinal exertion upon the hook proper indicated at 16 will. bear the rocker point 33 against the lip 34 and consequently rock or move the barbed point 19 in a direction opposite to hookengaging position so that as soon as the rocker point 33 is disengaged from the lip 34, the barbed point 19 will be disposed in a position to hook the lip of the minnow instead of that portion of the body which would be; injurious to the life of the minnow. The flat section 21 of the hook cooperates with the guard arm to prevent the hook portion from, digging into. the fleshy portion of the minnows body and also, allows the point 19 of the hook to slide freely until the rocker point 33 is disengaged ashereinbefore explained.

It will be noted that the rocker point is disposed upon a line which is substantially tangent to the longitudinal axis of the shank 17 of the hook. This is preferably for the reason that in extracting. the rocker point 33 from contact with the lip, there will be sufficient room for the point 19 to rock without becoming hooked with adjacent fleshy portions of the minnow.

It is apparent that the minnow cannot become hooked other than through the mouth thereof,

and this results by virtue of the combination guard and rocker arm, the function of which has been previously explained.

I claim:

1. The combination with a fish hook including a shank portion, of an arm having one end fastened to the shank and arranged at an acute angle to the latter, with the outer end of the arm pointing away from the hook portion.

2. The combination with a fish hook including a shank portion, of an arm having one end fastened to the shank and arranged at an acute angle to the latter, with the outer end of the arm pointing away from the hook portion, said arm comprising a piece of wire bent to provide two reaches.

3. The combination with a fish hook including a shank portion, of an arm projecting from said shank, said arm being arranged at an acute angle to the shank, with its outer end pointing away from the hook portion, said arm comprising a piece of wire having one end coiled about the shank, to provide a Weight.

4. A minnow hook comprising a shank, a barbless hook portion formed on one end of the shank and terminating in a point, means secured to the shank and arranged at an acute angle thereto and upwardly and outwardly therefrom for cooperation with the hook portion to direct I the point to the mouth of a minnow, and said hook portion including means to prevent. casual removal thereof from the minnow.

FRANK SOUKUP. 

